Metgethen Falls!

Having been stymied twice in Metgethen the 13th Panzergrenadier Regiment having suffered horrendous losses asked and got extra supports for a third try at their objective as it was vital this town was taken.

As it had become obvious that one of the problems of taking the town was the perfectly placed Mayors house and the others which lent excellent cover to the defenders I offered Matt some mobile artillery which was not on the list for the campaign. However given that time was of the essence and the town had held out twice now I decided that every effort would be made to ensure its fall this time, and that included self propelled guns. This time Matt had the remnants of his original platoon, two infantry squads, a pre-game barrage, a Stummel and a PzIIIN, although there was the panzerschreck I thought this was a bit light on anti-tank considering the hard fighting T34/85 was still in the town. The Russians stuck with their two squads from the original platoon backed up by an MMG, a sniper and a Zis2 anti-tank gun and of course the T34.

This time I took more care of the German attack as far as I could with the command dice, I decided to make an assault down the right flank with the armour and infantry in support, another squad and again the panzerschreck would take the left. The Russians had a problem deploying due to the barrage and this allowed the Jerries to get a long way down the right flank with the Stummel and two squads, the PzIII got on but held back due to the presence of the Zis, also the command dice were needed to push forward the spearhead. The Russians eventually managed to end the turn and get the T34 on but it was not soon enough to help the MMG team in the large barn, this was overwhelmed and routed. The Stummel tried a shot at the T34 and although hitting it only incapacitated it for a short time, the halftrack then hid behind the barn, the infantry now bravely moved up and took panzerfaust shots at the tank, these either missed or again only temporarily held up the tank, it was time for the infantry to seek shelter.

What had looked for a second like an overwhelming German victory had been turned around by the late arrival of the T34 and with no anti-tank weapons left or arriving it looked like the T34 only had to mop up the opposition. On the German left however the remaining infantry had now got to close range of the Blue House and the firepower began to take it's toll on the men inside, their Junior Leader was killed and the survivors fled the building. The Stummel, having tried to hide from the T34 was now in the sights of the Zis and although not destroyed it was hit and effectively put out of action as most of its crew were dead, the PzIII could now receive command dice and started to bombard the Mayors house and the men in there began to take casualties. With their morale at rock bottom the Reds abandoned the town.

So, the fourth game has ended, three tables and five games to go, can the Germans breakout, who knows. I got a bit deeper into the game this time and used tactical movement and understood a few more rules. I now think that a morale of 15 is a bit too much so have settled on an increase of only one for now to give 12 as the starting number for Force Morale, this works well. I am also increasingly thinking of adding a sixth command dice when the support points are more than a dozen, there are rules I believe which allow the use of a sixth die and will look these up when I get a chance.

I have finished my industrial units, I had decided to be superfast with these and went for spray paint, the pit head I did in green, then splashes of black with some rust rubbed in overall, with the buildings I sprayed all windows black, then used masking tape to protect them while using Necron Bone or some such. A bit of weathering and a few bits and pieces chucked on the roofs, there is always a wheel/tyre on these roofs, god knows why, I must find a small football, and voila. Being chuffed with myself didn't last long as I realised I had glued down all but one of the roofs, duh. The buildings were all from Sarissa and where very easy to build, easier if I had not tore ahead and actually read the instructions, but hey, the buildings for the most part are one level and troops if need be can be placed on the roofs. The doors and windows are very flimsy and the doors especially seem to want to break off, I wanted them to remain closed, maybe I will put them ajar at some point but for now they are closed. I have been asked where the pit head came from and you can get it here.

I decided against adding to my ancients for now and took the plunge to add another couple of brigades to my SYW forces, four battalions each. I wanted to go with Highlanders for the British only to find that the Perry's have closed down for at least another week and having no patience I went for Front Rank and got two French battalions. I also went to GMB Flags and got the flags for the Highland 87th and 88th Foot for when I do get them and Rooth and De Clare's Irish regiments in French service.

This means that when I finish my last eight Russians tonight, I will have something to continue, at the moment I dug out a single tank commander to paint but now I have reached the bottom of the barrel. If there is a delay from Front Rank which is not usually the case then I will turn back to some of my buildings and renovate them.

I have set up game five, table four for the weekend, the Germans have to capture the Signal Box at Seerappen, a big ask in Chain of Command getting over all that empty terrain, still all to play for for both sides.